January 12, 2022 AUGUSTA – The Department of Secretary of State and Senator Louis Luchini, D-Ellsworth, proposed several changes to Maine’s election law to increase access to voting and streamline election administration. L.D. 1830, “An Act To Amend the Election Laws” https://legislature.maine.gov/LawMakerWeb/summary.asp?ID=280082180 is the Departments agency bill which traditionally is introduced each year to update Maine election laws. Among other issues, this bill addresses proof of identity for tribal members, the right to vote for residents of nursing homes and other residential care facilities and petition forms. Specifically, the legislation allows identification cards from federally recognized Indian tribes to be used as proof of identity when registering to vote. The bill also updates laws about voting on-site in nursing homes that pre-dated […]

January 12,2022 AUGUSTA – House Majority Leader Michelle Dunphy, D-Old Town, introduced LD 1780, An Act To Allow Unorganized Territory School Staff to Receive Annualized Pay, before the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs on Tuesday. The bill would allow unorganized territory school staff to have the option to receive annualized pay. This option would give teachers and critical support staff, including education technicians, bus drivers and janitors, the opportunity to receive a consistent year-round income. Currently, schools in unorganized territories are at a disadvantage for hiring quality staff, as there are many surrounding school districts who already provide this option. The legislation would also ensure that school staff do not have to decide between forgoing insurance coverage during the […]

January 11, 2022 AUGUSTA – Rep. Richard Evans, D-Dover Foxcroft, introduced legislation Tuesday to improve health care affordability and increase options for comprehensive coverage for individuals and small businesses in Maine. If passed into law, LD 1778 would require the Office of Affordable Health Care, an independent, nonpartisan agency, to analyze barriers to affordable health care and develop proposals on potential methods to improve affordability and coverage. Speaking before the Legislature’s Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services Committee, Evans said that without access to affordable health care, Maine families and communities suffer. “Access to affordable health care is not just an issue of quality of life. It is an economic imperative,” said Rep Evans. “I think we can all agree that Maine’s local, […]

January 11, 2022 AUGUSTA – Rep. Lois Galgay Reckitt, D-South Portland, introduced legislation January 11, 2022 to amend the Maine Constitution to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on the sex of an individual. The proposal, LD 344, is part of a 50-year effort Galgay Reckitt has been involved in to get states to ratify the federal Equal Rights Amendment. During the bill’s public hearing before the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee, over 100 individuals testified in support of the measure. “It’s no secret, I have been advocating for a federal Equal Rights Amendment every day since 1972. In 1973, as a private citizen, I lobbied the Maine Legislature to ratify that proposal – losing in the Senate by one vote. The next year, in 1974, I did the […]

FEMA also approves Mills Administration’s request for two Federal COVID-19 Surge Response Teams for MaineHealth and Central Maine Medical Center Augusta, MAINE – Governor Janet Mills announced today that she will activate up to an additional 169 members of the Maine National Guard to help alleviate short-term capacity constraints at hospitals and maintain access to inpatient health care for Maine people amid record-high COVID-19 hospitalizations. The Governor today directed the activation of these additional Guard members to serve in non-clinical support roles at health care facilities across the state. The Guard members will help hospitals maintain capacity by freeing up clinical staff to focus on patient care. Their assistance will also open additional beds at nursing facilities, in swing bed units, and at other “decompression […]

BY CAROLE KING, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR — 01/11/22  In The HILL The already-enacted bipartisan infrastructure bill allocated billions of dollars to facilitate logging in our national forests, with scant public awareness of those provisions. The House-passed Build Back Better bill contains similar sections.  Over 200 U.S. climate scientists and ecologists oppose those logging provisions. As negotiations resume, lawmakers could achieve compromise by excluding sections providing billions more for “restoration,” “fuel reduction,” “forest health,” and other euphemisms for commercial logging. Removing those provisions would free up money to extend the child tax credit, which families have been putting back into the economy through buying food, gas, toilet paper, medicines, and shoes for growing children, among other necessities.  But the cost of logging on public land is […]

01/10/2022  AUGUSTA, MAINE -The Maine Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) is urging residents and visitors to use caution during extreme cold temperatures. The National Weather Service in Gray forecasts temperatures below zero this evening and Tuesday night with wind chills between 15-30 below zero tomorrow morning. Wind chill warnings and wind chill advisories have been issued for late this evening through tomorrow morning. Snow squalls are also predicted across southwest Maine that may impact this evening’s commute. “With extreme cold temperatures coming to Maine this week, I encourage Maine people to take every precaution to stay warm and to check on friends, family and neighbors to ensure they are safe,” said Governor Janet Mills. “For those who are concerned about their ability to […]

Along with an annual appropriation of $35 million, Maine will receive an additional $55.2 million in funds from the American Rescue Plan – more than double Maine’s typical annual funding January 7, 2022 WASHINGTON, DC—Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) today announced Maine has received a record $90.2 million for home energy assistance thanks to the American Rescue Plan. In addition to an annual appropriation of $35 million, Maine will receive $55.2 million in funds from the American Rescue Plan—more than double Maine’s typical annual funding—for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). This marks the highest amount Maine has ever received in LIHEAP to help families struggling with home heating costs.  “During a time when so many in Maine and […]

On, January 5, 2022, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that COVID-19 booster shots are now available for Mainers age 12 and older who have already received a COVID-19 vaccine. See the announcement by the Food and Drug Administration for more detail.  A booster dose or shot is another dose of a COVID-19 vaccine that is given after the initial two shot vaccine series for Pfizer or Moderna, or after the initial single vaccine for Janssen (Johnson & Johnson).  The booster should be given at least five months after getting the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine; at least five months after the second dose of the Moderna vaccine; or at least two months after getting the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccine.   Individuals who are 12 through 17 years old […]

Despite New Limitations Against In-Person Audiences, Spectators, Guests, and Visitors at the College, Bates Administrators “Strongly Encourage” Hourly Staff to Gather for In-Person Anti-Union Meetings With Expensive Boston Labor Consultant Katie Lev January 4, 2022 By Ramona du Houx LEWISTON, ME — On January 3, 2022, Bates College administrators sent an email to Bates hourly staff, strongly urging them to attend in-person anti-union meetings this week with out-of-state labor consultant Katie Lev of Lev Labor LLC, despite updated College restrictions on in-person gatherings and outside visitors, established by the College to protect public health during students’ return to campus amid the highly contagious omicron variant surge.  Ahead of employees’ mail-in union election, set to begin this Thursday, January 6th, the College scheduled […]